Bat Demo Night
Tonight I got a chance to demo a few bats and shake a bit of the off-season rust off. Al Anderson’s Source For Sports had a bunch of the 2017 line of bats on for demo at Going Yard Baseball Warehouse. This was my first visit to the complex, which was a nice place to work in the off-season.
First off, I was disappointed there were no Demarini demos. Anyone that has played ball with me knows I have been a faithful Demarini guy for quite a few years, probably one of the few left. I can’t say I was surprised at the lack of Demarini, they seem to have abandoned Canada in the marketing plan. No one swings them, no one demos them, they have little presence out there. To be honest, my opinion of last year’s lineup was that they opted for style over substance, with the custom line of products. The hype has been good on the new line, but I’ve never been one to follow the hype. Mizuno was also noticeably absent.
There weren’t many people demoing tonight, so I got to swing a LOT of bats. It was nice as I got to compare them all. I wish I had one of my Demarini there so I could compare against what I’m currently gaming, bit I did get a good feel for what I liked and what I didn’t. Pictured is what I swung. They are ordered left to right in the order I would rank them, favorite to least favorite. Much to my surprise, a Super Z was my top pick. I went back to it a few times as I was pretty surprised about that since I hated the Z’s in the past. My least favorite was the Easton Brett Helmer. It had horrible feedback for me and I could rarely hit the sweet spot.
Since I swung so many, I cant really do an in depth review, but here are my quick thoughts on each.
27oz Super Z End Loaded – wow, I was impressed. This felt great, by far the best feeling off the barrel, nice and crisp. I still don’t like the factory taper (an easy fix by regripping) and the bat knob feels a bit clunky compared to other brands, but this was easily my favorite of the night. I’d love to demo this guy outside on a field to gauge distance, I could be convinced to add one to the bag.
27oz Freak 30 – I went in thinking it would be a toss up between this and the Jeff Hall legit as the make up resembled what I’m swinging now. It felt great. I hit this one consistently well. I think you will see this one on the field a lot this year.
27.5 Worth Legit Jeff Hall – I didn’t hit this one as consistently as the Freak 30, but a did get a few in the sweet spot that seemed to scream. This one could also be a contender get me to switch
27oz Worth Legit BJ Fulk – a bigger sweet spot than the Jeff Hall so I hit it more consistently, but I didn’t love the weighting. I would say it was more of a mid load than an end load.
27oz Miken Freak Platinum Balanced – felt really nice, similar to the Freak 30 on the barrel, but I didn’t like the feel of the larger barrel.
27oz Miken DC41 – I got good results but I didn’t like how it swung. It felt like swing a sledgehammer. Just not for me.
27oz Louisville Super Z Balanced – I never gave it much of a chance. I just liked the weighting of the end load so I only took a few cuts and moved on.
27oz Easton Brian Wegman – meh.
27oz Worth EST Balanced – another longer barrel. didn’t love the feel. When I got a few in the sweet spot you could tell it performed but anything that wasn’t hit just right didn’t feel great. Just wasn’t for me.
27oz Easton Brett Helmer – hated. vibration every hit.
I’d love to re-hit the top 3 on a field to get a better feel of how they perform, but all seemed great in the cage. I could see any of those 3 being contenders for me to switch.
Thanks again to Al Andersons, Going Yard and JQFP Softball for hosting the demo night. Now I have an itch to get back on the field, which could be sooner than later if the weather holds.
All for now,
J
